stave Hear it!

stave definition

stave (stāv)

noun

    1. any of the thin, shaped strips of wood or metal, set edge to edge to form or strengthen the wall of a barrel, bucket, etc.
    2. any similar slat, bar, rung, stay, etc.
  2. a stick or staff
  3. a set of verses, or lines, of a song or poem; stanza
  4. Music staff (sense )

Etymology: ME, taken as sing. of staves, pl. of staf, staff

transitive verb staved or stove, staving stav′·ing

    1. to puncture or smash, esp. by breaking in a stave or staves
    2. to beat as with a staff
  2. to furnish with staves

intransitive verb

to be or become stove in, as a boat; break up or in
stave Idioms

stave in

to break or crush inward

stave off

to ward off, hold off, or put off, as by force, guile, etc.

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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